


alone on valentine's day

by aredtricycle



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), F/M, Valentine's Day, annabeth and leo are friends, annabeth is alone, leo is alone, percabeth, percys missing, piper and jason unintentionally make leo and annabeth feel sad, set after the lost hero and before son of neptune, set in canonical universe, there's pity chocolate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:47:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29461494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aredtricycle/pseuds/aredtricycle
Summary: Piper and Jason give Annabeth pity chocolate and Leo and Annabeth platonically bond over being alone and throw things.orIt's Valentine's Day and Percy is still missing.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase/Leo Valdez, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Jason Grace & Piper McLean, Jason Grace/Piper McLean
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	alone on valentine's day

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm just a little bit late to post this but that's okay. I really like Leo and Annabeth's friendship so here's this. :)

Annabeth Chase set her armor on the rack and ran her hands through her ratty hair. A couple of the younger campers thanked her for the lesson but she shrugged them off. It was time for lunch but Annabeth wasn’t hungry. She sheathed her knife and started walking with no destination in mind.

Sixty days. Percy had been gone for sixty days. At least she had some kind of idea of where he was and that made her feel slightly better at times. But then her mind would betray her and she would imagine all of the things that could be wrong. Jason Grace had shown up with no memory and if he and Percy had really switched places, Percy must not remember her. That was hard to think about. 

It was February 14th. Valentine’s Day. Annabeth hated it. Today was supposed to be her and Percy’s first Valentine’s Day as a couple. Yeah, it didn’t really matter, but they were sixteen. And seeing all of these happy couples at camp just made her feel like shit. She missed him every single day but the romantic atmosphere of camp just made Percy’s absence seem bigger. 

Lunchtime meant that Annabeth had an hour-long break until one. Grover was leading a search party so he and Annabeth couldn’t even do anything fun together. She had nothing to do but long for Percy.

Somehow Annabeth ended up at the beach. She sat down in the sand. It was cold but she had been living in Percy’s swim team sweatshirt for a while. The waves crashing on the shore and the smell of the ocean brought back too many happy memories that made her heart ache. She didn’t mean to, but Annabeth started crying. She had done everything in her power to contact Percy and nothing had worked. 

Annabeth tried to picture him in her head but was interrupted by someone laughing. She turned and saw Piper and Jason holding hands and walking down the beach. Piper was holding a box of chocolates. She must have just said something funny because Jason was laughing. They looked happy. Annabeth felt a twinge of jealousy in her chest. That should be her and Percy. 

Annabeth wiped her eyes on her sleeve and tried to compose herself before Jason and Piper noticed her. Jason saw her first and waved. She faked a smile. 

“Oh! Hi, Annabeth!” Jason said. “Piper and I were-“ he suddenly glanced at Piper guiltily as if he realized he was being insensitive. He tugged at his sleeve.

“How are you doing?” Piper cut in. 

“I’m fine.” Annabeth lied. 

“Do you want a chocolate?” 

“Sure.” Annabeth didn’t want her pity chocolate. 

Piper handed her a square from the box and stared at her. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Don’t ask that. 

Annabeth faked another smile. “You two go have fun.” 

Piper gave her friend a worried look. “Are you sure?” Gods, Annabeth just wanted her to leave. 

Annabeth nodded. “Yep.” A lump formed in her throat. “I think I just need to be alone.”

Piper hugged her. “Okay,” Jason whispered something in her ear and she nodded. “We’ll see you at dinner.” They both smiled sympathetically and kept walking. 

Annabeth set the chocolate next to her. She was so upset that she didn’t even notice Leo coming up behind her. 

“Can I sit with you?” He asked timidly. Annabeth twisted around. Leo looked miserable. He was fidgeting with something on his tool belt. Annabeth nodded. “Thanks.” He sat down next to her.

“It’s Valentine’s Day,” Annabeth stated after a few minutes. 

“Yeah.”

“And my boyfriend’s missing.”

“Yeah.” Leo sighed. “My siblings told me I needed to take a break from the Argo II and eat lunch.”

She looked over at him. He was staring at the waves. Annabeth had never seen Leo this way before. He was always either smiling and joking or in work mode. But right now he was just blank. Annabeth felt bad. 

Leo picked up some sand and sifted it through his fingers. “It feels like everyone here has someone that they’re with today and I don’t want to sound like I’m desperate for a girlfriend or anything because really I just feel like a huge third wheel to Piper and Jason, especially today. They’re so obsessed with each other and I’m just here.” 

What Leo was saying reminded her of Grover, which made her feel bad, but also reminded her of how much she missed Percy. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I don’t know why I’m complaining to you, actually. Today’s way worse for you.” Leo looked at her nervously. 

Annabeth pursed her lips. “No one’s problems are less than anyone else’s.”

“Yeah, but... never mind.” Leo sighed again.

“Are you going to get anything to eat?” She asked him.

“Not hungry,” he responded. 

“Me neither.”

Leo noticed the little chocolate sitting next to her. “Is that from Pipes?” When Annabeth nodded he said, “She gave me one, too.” He pulled it out of his tool belt.

Annabeth snorted, “Wow.” She picked up the chocolate. It just looked like a boring square of milk chocolate. “What should we do with these? I mean we could eat them but I don’t want to.”

Leo thought about it for a moment. “We could throw them?” 

Annabeth did not need to even think about it. She chucked her chocolate far into the ocean. Maybe it was because she was so angry at the gods for taking Percy away. Maybe it was because she just really hated cheap milk chocolate. 

“Damn, okay.” Leo threw his chocolate. It did not land as far as Annabeth’s, but it was gone. 

Annabeth laughed. For the first time in a while. A good, happy laugh. Leo joined in. They probably looked insane but honestly, who cares? It was an emotional time.

When they had both calmed down, Leo stood up. “I should probably keep working on the Argo II if we’re gonna find him.”

Annabeth toyed with the beads on her necklace. “Leo?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I come, too? I really need a distraction.”

“That would be great!” Leo said excitedly. Annabeth smiled gratefully. Normally, Leo preferred to work alone, so Annabeth had been cautious to offer. But she needed to do anything she could to find Percy. The pair headed off to Bunker Nine, Leo filling Annabeth in on everything she would need to know. 

Working on the ship with Leo for the next few months was a great way to forget about her feelings for a while. But every night, Annabeth would still lay in bed and cry, wishing Percy was next to her.


End file.
